Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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In highly urbanized and unequal Latin America, urban health and health equity research are essential to effective policymaking. To ensure the application of relevant and context-specific evidence to efforts to reduce urban health inequities, urban health research in Latin America must incorporate strategic research translation efforts. Beginning in 2017, the Urban Health in Latin America (SALURBAL) project implemented policy-relevant research and engaged policymakers and the public to support the translation of research findings. ⋯ These efforts and their outcomes reveal important lessons regarding maintaining flexibility and accounting for local context in research, ensuring that resources are dedicated to policy engagement and dissemination activities, and recognizing that assessing policy impact requires a nuanced understanding of complex policymaking processes. These reflections are relevant for promoting urban health and health equity research translation across the global south and worldwide. This paper presents SALURBAL's strategy for dissemination and policy translation, highlights innovative initiatives and their outcomes, discusses lessons learned, and shares recommendations for future efforts to promote effective translation of research findings.
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The contributions of informal providers to the urban health system and their linkage to the formal health system require more evidence. This paper highlights the collaborations that exist between informal providers and the formal health system and examines how these collaborations have contributed to strengthening urban health systems in sub-Sahara Africa. The study is based on a scoping review of literature that was published from 2011 to 2023 with a focus on slums in sub-Sahara Africa. ⋯ Additionally, there were numerous instances of client referrals, either from informal to formal providers or from formal to informal providers. However, the review also indicates that these collaborations are unformalized, unsystematic, and largely undocumented. This undermines the potential contributions of informal providers to the urban health system.
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This study investigates the relationship between firearm violence exposure and functional health among Black adults in the United States (US). We examined associations between different forms of firearm violence exposure (direct, indirect, and community) and functional health with particular attention to differences across sex groups. We used survey data from a nationally representative sample of 3015 Black adult Americans to analyze associations between types of firearm violence exposure and four aspects of functional disability including: the ability to concentrate, walk/use stairs, dress/bathe, and run errands among males and females. ⋯ The results shed light on sex differences in the repercussions of firearm violence exposure and emphasize its implications for daily functioning and health. This study contributes to the understanding of the multifaceted impacts of firearm violence on functional well-being and highlights the need for inclusive and culturally sensitive healing approaches based in community settings. There is a critical need for heightened awareness and strategies to enhance the well-being of those disproportionately affected by firearm violence in the US.
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The present study investigates associations between cumulative police exposures, police violence stress, and depressive symptoms among Black youth, and whether LGBQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer) identities moderate these associations. Data come from the Survey of Police-Adolescent Contact Experiences (SPACE), a cross-sectional survey of a community-based sample of Black youth ages 12-21 in Baltimore City, Maryland (n = 345), administered from August 2022 to July 2023. We used multivariable ordinary least squares regression to estimate direct associations and product-term analysis to test for effect modification by sexual identities. ⋯ Police exposures and police violence stress also compounded to worsen depressive symptoms among the subsample of LGBQ youth. Collectively, our findings suggest that LGBQ youth-especially bisexual and queer youth-may be particularly vulnerable to the mental health harms of cumulative police exposures and police violence stress. Intersectional, public health approaches that combine prevention and treatment strategies are needed to mitigate LGBQ mental health inequities stemming from cumulative police exposures and police violence stress.
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The characteristics of a neighborhood's built environment may influence health-promoting behaviors, interactions between neighbors, and perceptions of safety. Although some research has reported on how youth in high-violence communities navigate danger, less work has investigated how these youth perceive the built environment, their desires for these spaces, and how these desires relate to their conceptions of safety and perceptions of other residents. To fill this gap, this study used focus group data from 51 youth ages 13-24 living in New Orleans, Louisiana. ⋯ They further identified built environment assets that facilitate socialization and recreation, such as local parks, and social assets in the form of cooperation and neighbor-led civic engagement initiatives. In addition, the youth participants demonstrated awareness of structural inequities that influence neighborhood health and violence-related outcomes. This study contributes to efforts to understand how youth with high levels of community violence exposure understand and interact with the built and social environments.